Wolfe Research Initiates Coverage on MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM)

Research analysts at Wolfe Research started coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price target would indicate a potential upside of 18.63% from the company’s previous close.

MSM has been the subject of several other reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, October 25th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 16th. Finally, Stephens lowered shares of MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, MSC Industrial Direct has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Price Performance

Shares of MSM opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.93, a quick ratio of 0.90 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $81.94 and its two-hundred day moving average is $81.88. MSC Industrial Direct has a twelve month low of $72.79 and a twelve month high of $104.76. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. MSC Industrial Direct had a return on equity of 17.80% and a net margin of 6.21%. The business had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $904.90 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.25 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of MSC Industrial Direct stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $360,199.08. The trade was a 18.20 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quest Partners LLC raised its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 35,300.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 354 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 353 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 7.0% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 938,980 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $74,467,000 after acquiring an additional 61,022 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its stake in MSC Industrial Direct by 1,715.2% during the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 143,400 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $11,373,000 after acquiring an additional 135,500 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its holdings in MSC Industrial Direct by 10.2% during the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 8,085 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $641,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Blair William & Co. IL raised its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 11.8% in the 2nd quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 5,100 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $405,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 79.26% of the company’s stock.

MSC Industrial Direct Company Profile

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.